The Great Malawi Journey provides a wonderful perspective of southern Malawi, from its evocative Lake to its mighty inselbergs, woodlands and forests. Add to this the fascinating friendly Malawian culture and history to create a well- rounded, seamless experience.
Along with these outstanding attractions, this Exploration is enhanced by local guides with tremendous local knowledge. An exceptional aspect of a Malawi safari is the 'journey between' - along the road, guests gain an authentic insight into the land: the friendly people, superb scenery, and there is always something of interest to stop off and see.
Day 1: Zomba Forest Lodge, Zomba Mountain, Southern Malawi On arrival at Lilongwe Airport we meet our vehicle and guide for the spectacular 4-hour drive south along the western spine of the Great African Rift to Zomba. This drive takes offers many wonderful views down to the lake and over to Mozambique to the west.
Leaving town we head up to Zomba Mountain on a spectacular mountain road to Zomba Forest Lodge - the lodge is a cosy, unpretentious colonial forester's house with en-suite rooms and a separate lounge, dining area, all set in beautiful gardens.
Zomba was the original capital city of the old British Central African Protectorate and its development as such is entirely due to the temperate climate on the nearby Zomba Mountain, a massive granite massif which dominates the western edge of the town. The mountain was settled by the British in the late 19th century as a respite from the heat of the low-lying plains, in a similar fashion to the hill stations of India. Our trip around Zomba will take in both the mountain and the town and depending on our time of arrival in the town we will probably do a town tour before driving up to the mountain and then a mountain tour tomorrow morning. In town there are many turn-of-the-20th-century colonial buildings and a trip around the market offers wonderful photographic opportunities - this being one of the busiest and most colourful in Malawi. Witchdoctors, tin smiths and second-hand clothes stalls literally wedged in between the piles of freshly picked fruit and vegetables.
Day 2: Around Zomba There are many options available today including walking around the plateau, birding, and visiting some of the viewpoints which fringe the edge of the plateau. A round trip along the top of the mountain is about 25km and can easily take the best part of a day with constant stopping at points of interest. In the hotter months there are some great swimming spots.
Day 3: Lujeri Lodge, Mulanje Mountain After breakfast we board the vehicle for the scenic drive east to Mulanje Mountain. The journey takes us through the rolling tea fields of the Thyolo district where the early colonial settlers first planted tea in the 1880s. The drive usually takes about 4 hours.
Mulanje Mountain is located about 100km south-east of Blantyre. This Massif is South Central Africa's highest mountain and is a huge block of granite rising 2380m above a largely flat and featureless plain. Hiking is unrivalled up the numerous peaks and along marginal plateaux, which are intersected by deep-forested ravines, in which the most conspicuous tree - Mulanje cedar - attains heights of 150ft.
Lujeri Lodge is near to the base of Mount Mulanje on one of the oldest colonial tea estates in the country. The lodge is an old tea estate manager's house and has the old world charm of a bygone era, with a swimming pool as well as fantastic walks on offer around the estate.
Day 4: Lujeri Lodge Your programme for today will be decided in discussion with your guide who will have given you the options over last night's dinner. Among these will be some gentle walking along the foothills of the mountain and a tour of the nearby tea factory.
Day 5: Mvuu Wilderness Lodge, Liwonde National Park After breakfast we depart for Liwonde though the village-strewn Phalombe Plain and soon climb down into the Great African Rift Valley to Liwonde Town where we will meet a boat which will take us up the Shire River to Mvuu Lodge. Driving time is about 3 hours and the boat journey is 1 hour. Liwonde National Park is considered to be the finest in Malawi and one of the best birding locations in Africa and offers some of the most scenic game viewing, beautiful riverine surroundings and varied bird watching and game viewing in the region. A great deal of the terrain is Shire River floodplains, much loved by the healthy population of elephants in this park.
Mvuu Wilderness Lodge is situated along the banks of a quiet lagoon flowing off the Shire River. The lodge offers comfortable tented accommodation in 5 spacious 'Hemingway'- styled safari tents for a maximum of 10 guests, each with its own en-suite facilities. The dining room, which is high above the lagoon on stilts, is a breezy and relaxing place to spent time between activities. There is a pool which is especially welcome during the summer months set amongst shady trees within earshot of hippos in the river. As well as boat safaris, game drives and nature walks enable us to experience a wide range of game, including large numbers of sable antelope, hippo, impala, and waterbuck. Huge crocodiles and serval are also fairly common.
Days 6 and 7: Mvuu Wilderness Lodge, Liwonde National Park With 3 nights here we will have plenty of time to explore all the options on offer and will create a daily routine to suit everyone's interests.
Cultural options around Mvuu: The park is surrounded by a large rural community. On the western boundary this begins only a couple of kilometres from the river and there are some great opportunities for interaction. Possibilities include a bicycle ride to Nanthomba and Kafulafula Schools, a visit to the local Women's Handicraft group or a tour of the various agricultural projects in the area which we support.
Day 8: Mumbo Island: Cape Maclear Peninsula Today we will depart from Mvuu after breakfast and initially drive through picturesque villages to the main road before heading north to the lake, stopping en route at the bustling town of Mangochi for a look at the museum. The driving time is around 3 hours.
The Peninsula is an exquisite rocky promontory full of towering forest-clad hills and was named by Dr David Livingstone after Sir Thomas Maclear who had in the 1840s taught Livingstone the rudiments of map making. The early Scottish Missionaries chose it as one of their earliest stations owing to the safe shelter from the often stormy lake and now it is a proclaimed protected area - Lake Malawi National Park, the first national park in the world set aside for the preservation of freshwater fish.
The lake is home to over 2000 species of brightly coloured algae feeding fish from the cichlid family. Many are endemic to the lake and species are still being discovered and catalogued. The areas around the Kayak Africa Camps are among the best spots on the whole lake for viewing these fish, most of whom live near the surface and can easily be spotted when snorkelling.
Day 9: Mumbo Island Today can be as active or as relaxed as you wish with options to swim, snorkel, kayak, go birding or just stroll. There are short easy walks from the camp which take you to several points of all points of interest on the island.
Day 10: To Lilongwe Airport The drive to the airport in Lilongwe normally takes about 4 hours so often involves a very early boat off the island before heading west and north, up the edge of the rift again to Lilongwe International Airport.